HIGHWAY DESIGN

Accommodating Bicyclists and Pedestrians

HIGHWAY 212 PROJECT

The BRTA partners with Bike Walk Montana concerning the adequate accommodation of bicyclists and pedestrians in the design of transportation facilities.

Federal Highway Administration guidance states it is “a presumption that bicyclists and pedestrians be accommodated in the design of new and improved transportation facilities.  In the planning, design and operation of transportation facilities, bicyclists and pedestrians should be included as a matter of routine, and the decision not to accommodate them should be the exception rather than the rule.  There must be exceptional circumstances for denying bicycle and pedestrian access by prohibition or by designing highways that are incompatible with safe, convenient walking and bicycling.”

The latest proposed highway project with unresolved issues regarding accommodation of bicyclists and pedestrians is the following: Highway 212 Project, Robinson Drive to Two Mile Bridge Road; comments were due Sept. 12

ADDITIONAL HIGHWAY PROJECTS

BRTA worked with the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) to insure that adequate shoulders were provided on Highway 78/Brewery Hill, from Lazy M Street to Hauser Avenue.  The MDT agreed to narrow the lanes to 11 feet in this section in order to provide five- foot shoulders.  A wider shoulder stripe further delineates the shoulder.  This project was completed in 2015.

BRTA also insured that rumble strips on Highway 78 near Red Lodge consistent with the MDT Rumble Strip Guidance were included and assisted the City of Red Lodge in securing an MDT encroachment permit for the installation of safety signage on the Highway 78 Multi-Use Pathway.  Installation of the signage is scheduled for the summer of 2020.

BRTA supported the design for the rebuild project on West Fork Road that included 11’ driving lanes and four-foot shoulders completed in 2017.   Share the road signs (with cyclists) were installed at the behest of the BRTA in 2019.

BRTA has noted to the County and the City the need for a bicycle and pedestrian provision for the 19th Street bridge reconstructed in 2013.  The existing bridge railing does not meet the ASSHTO specifications that the minimum height of a pedestrian railing shall be 42” and the size of openings between horizontal and vertical elements does not exceed a six-inch sphere.  The railing configuration a potential safety issue for small children.